URANIUM FOR SALE IN KAMPALA, UGANDA

UNCLAS KAMPALA 001188 SIPDIS SENSITIVE C O R R E C T E D COPY (SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED) STATE FOR INS/CTR AND PM/ISO/PMAT INFO DS/IP/AF, T, DS, INR, IO/T, INR/SPM, PM/ISO, PMAT, S/CT, S/P, S/ES-O, INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC KCRM KNNP MNUC PARM PTER UG SUBJECT: URANIUM FOR SALE IN KAMPALA, UGANDA REF: SECSTATE 163201 ¶1. (SBU) Post wishes to alert the Department and Washington agencies per reftel that it has received a report indicating a potential incident of illicit trafficking in nuclear and/or radiological materials. This report came to post's attention via walk in interview. Information concerning this report was relayed telephonically to PMAT at 0830 (EST) on August 27, 2008. ¶2. (SBU) Details of the incident follow: A) Current location of material: Unknown location in Kampala, Uganda. B) Transport status of material: Stationary. How secure is it: Unknown. What does the host government plan to do with it: RSO has notified the Ugandan Police Force, Counter Terrorism Unit. It is not yet known what they plan to do with the information. C) Assessment of the likelihood that the appropriate authorities can/will secure the material: Unlikely. D) If in transit, means of transport: Not in transit. E) Intended destination of material: Material is being offered for sale, the final destination is unknown. F) Routing of material, if via multiple ports: Across DRC/Ugandan border. G) Supplier and/or origination point of material: Sellers origin is Ugandan. Origination point of material is a nuclear power plant or reactor in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is no longer operational. H) Type of material: Liquid uranium. Photocopies of the canister are available. Contact information is listed in para. three. I) Date and time of incident: Unknown. J) Source of the report: Walk-in. K) If an alarm, technical information: Not applicable. L) What else if anything was being smuggled with the material: Unknown. M) Specific place where alarm or incident occurred: Not applicable. N) Additional details of walk-in interview: The SOURCE is a Kenyan/Swedish citizen who states that he and a friend were approached as possible buyers of the uranium. Purchase price is 25 million USD. The SOURCE states that he contacted the Ugandan Minster of Security, Amama Mbabazi, several months ago to report the existence of the uranium but has gotten no response from the Ugandan authorities to date. The SOURCE advised that he is trying to pass the information to the authorities and has been stringing the buyers along with a plan to export the uranium in a coffee shipment headed to Europe, through an export business that he owns, Begmas Export International, based in Sweden. The SOURCE provided documents that he obtained from the sellers with a picture of the container and descriptive information of the contents. The documentation advises that the material is U 235 H L 81.35' ans and being kept in an aluminum container. RSO has passed this information to the Ugandan Police Force, Counter Terrorism Unit. RSO section will take no further action without additional guidance from Washington, DC. ¶3. (SBU) Contact ARSO Kemmi L. Sadler: class email: sadlerkl@state.sgov.gov; office: 256-414-30-6207, unclas email: sadlerk@state.gov. BROWNING